Upskilling platform upGrad has increased its employee stock ownership plan (Esop) pool by 3 lakh options or 13%, to 25.25 lakh from its existing 22.25 lakh options, according to the company’s latest regulatory filing.
UpGrad’s Esop pool is now worth around Rs 2,058.78 crore ($260 million), according to estimates based on the company’s recently concluded funding round announced early this month.
The edtech platform’s board passed a special resolution at an extraordinary general meeting on 18 August to hike the Esop pool. "The upGrad Esop shall apply to all eligible employees of the company,” it said in the regulatory filing.
News website Entrackr was the first to report the development.
The company recently raised $210 million from ETS Global, Bodhi Tree, Singapore's Kaizen Management Advisors Pvt. Ltd., Bharti Airtel’s family office, Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office (Ambuja Cements and ACC), Artian Investments (Family Office of Lakshmi Mittal - ArcelorMittal), and existing investors Temasek, IFC and IIFL.
The founder group of upGrad also contributed $12.5 million in this round to maintain their 50%+ ownership in the Mumbai-based edtech company, which is operated by UpGrad Education Pvt. Ltd.
This is the second time the unicorn has expanded its Esop within a year. In November 2021, the company increased its employee stock option pool by 28% from 17,25,810 options to 22,25,810 options.
Founded in 2015 by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli, upGrad provides higher education courses to professionals. The company has partnered with some of the top global universities for the courses it offers on the platform.
With the reopening of schools and colleges, edtech startups, which saw blazing growth during the pandemic, are grappling with a significant funding crisis and subsequrnt drops in valuation. This has led to widespread layoffs at some Indian startups.
However, with the latest fundraising, upGrad said it was planning to increase its team strength to 7,600 from the present 4,800 as well as hiring 170 full-time faculty, 1,600 teachers, and more than 5,000 on-contract coaches and mentors.
